A House with Two Rooms - The Advocates for Human Rights

Many statement givers described how the rapes often involved the death of the victim and/or family
members. Statement givers described brutal incidents of aggravated rape accompanied by violations,
such as gang-rape and rape with foreign objects. It was not uncommon for a woman to be raped by
multiple perpetrators at a given time. In a study of 991 Liberian women and girl victims of violence,
the International Rescue Committee reported that 376 had been gang-raped. 88 One statement giver
described a particularly brutal attack:
In 2003, I was living in Caldwell with my husband. On June 1, Taylor’s boys
(NPFL) took over…Rebels wanted our car and took it. They accused me of
lying about my husband being Grebo. They stabbed me in the breast and
dragged my husband outside and began to cut him. They forced me to carry
his private parts and then they cut off his arms. They caught me and four of
them raped me. I was three months pregnant and am still having pain from
the rapes. 89
The Rome Statute uses the following definition of rape as a crime against humanity and a war crime:*
“The perpetrator invaded the body of a person by conduct resulting in penetration, however slight, of
any part of the body of the victim or of the perpetrator with a sexual organ, or of the anal or genital
opening of the victim with any object or any other part of the body…The invasion was committed by
force, or by threat of force or coercion, such as that caused by fear of violence, duress, detention,
psychological oppression or abuse of power, against such person or another person, or by taking
advantage of a coercive environment, or the invasion was committed against a person incapable of
giving genuine consent.” Art. 7(1)(g)-1(1), (2); Art. 8(2)(b)(xxii)-1(1)-(2), International Criminal Court,
Elements of Crimes.
* These elements are in addition to the specific elements required to constitute a crime against
humanity and war crime.
Perpetrators also used foreign objects, such as guns, knives, and household objects, to carry out
rape. 90 Another female statement giver described an attack involving a foreign object: “[The rebel]
asked for money to buy petrol for his car. I told him I didn’t have money. He came back the very next
day with his boys and put me at gunpoint, two or three raped me, beat me up and shoved the gun in
my vagina.” 91 Even everyday objects were used to inflict suffering through rape. One public hearing
witness testified how rebels raped her and other detained women using a spoon. 92
Breaking of Social Taboos
Combatants used rape and other forms of sexual violence to systematically break social taboos. In
particular, combatants forced civilians to break sexual norms regarding age and family. Young men
were forced to rape their mothers and grandmothers. Men were forced to have sex with their sisters.
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Chapter Ten